Family Tree Tuesday – Nolan Hemmings

Nolan Hemmings

Nolan Hemmings is an English stage and film actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Staff Sergeant Charles ‘Chuck’ Grant in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He is an actor in London’s West End Theatre. Nolan is married to actress Nikki Grosse who was one of the hosts on the Globe Trekker travel show.

Hemmings was born in 1970 to English actor and director David Hemmings and American actress Gayle Hunnicutt. David Hemmings appeared in major British films, including the musical film Camelot (1967), the war film The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), and in the epic film Alfred the Great (1969). Nolan was named after his father’s character, Captain Nolan, in The Charge of the Light Brigade. David also appeared in the science-fiction film Barbarella (1968). He directed David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich in the drama film Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (also known as Just a

David Hemmings

Gigolo) (1978). He also directed the drama film The 14 (1973), which won the Silver Bear at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival. David worked as a director on television programmes including Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., The A-Team and Airwolf. In his later acting career, he appeared as Cassius in the historical epic film Gladiator (2000) with Russell Crowe, Spy Game (2001), also as Mr. Schemerhorn in Gangs of New York (2002). He was in the 2001 British/German drama film Last Orders portraying the character of Lenny and his son Nolan was also in the film as a younger version of Lenny. His autobiography Blow Up… and Other Exaggerations – The Autobiography of David Hemmings was published in 2004. David was known for his distinctive eyebrows and gravelly voice.

Gayle Hunnicutt

Gayle Hunnicutt worked as a fashion model before going into acting and has worked as an actress in both American and British productions; film and television. She co-starred with James Garner in Marlowe (1969). Hunnicutt played the role of Vanessa Beaumont in the U.S. series Dallas until 1991. In 2012, she is featured in the HGTV reality TV show Selling London, Season 1, Episode 6. It follows her as she sells her Primrose Hill Victorian house in London and buys an English country property to be close to her grandchildren. She is the author of Health and Beauty in Motherhood published in 1984. In 2004, she published Dearest Virginia: Love Letters from a Cavalry Officer in the South Pacific, which includes the letters exchanged by her parents, Colonel Sam Lloyd Hunnicutt and Virginia Hunnicutt, during World War II.

Did you know Nolan Hemming’s is related to American singer/actor Pat Boone and American pioneer/explorer/frontiersman Daniel Boone? They’re related through Nolan’s 6th great grandfather Samuel Boone, Jr. on his mother’s side. Pat Boone is Nolan’s 7th cousin once removed and Daniel Boone is Nolan’s first cousin 7 times removed.

Check out Nolan’s family tree and see how you may be related!